Team SERVPRO Helps a Colorado Church Remediate Storm Damage

When people show up for mass, especially on Sunday evenings, the last thing they expect is to find their beloved sanctuary filled with water. An intense hailstorm in Colorado Springs forced cancellation of mass at the local St. Paul church when the roof sprang a major leak. Reverend John Fitzpatrick paints a clear picture by saying that, "the roof was just leaking like a sieve."

In such situations, a quick reaction can help reduce or reverse the damage. On discovering the loss, approximately 30 minutes before the scheduled evening mass, Rev. John had to act quickly. "My first thought was, we have to cancel mass," he says. Saving the contents within the church from intruding water was also high on his list of priorities. Calling SERVPRO immediately turned out to be the best decision he could make because we could provide the plastic sheets to cover pews and install roof tarps to stop further intrusion. 

At SERVPRO of Northern Colorado Springs / Tri-Lakes, we understand the need to take corrective actions immediately after noticing water intrusion because it limits permeation. We managed to respond within the hour after receiving the call to save St. Paul Church, despite the stormy weather. "SERVPRO was there within… I mean within an hour," Rev. John says.

Water can cause widespread damages within a short while. The roof leak affected 12,000 square feet of the church with varying damages to the basement, tiles, acoustic ceiling, and the chapel. The floor materials also absorbed significant amounts of water requiring extra drying efforts. Luckily, our SERVPRO team brought several units of air movers, which we placed all over the church floor for faster evaporation. Trailered desiccant dehumidifiers helped extract moisture from the air for balanced. Seeing several SERVPRO crews at the loss site and the abundant equipment we brought was also reassuring to the client. "The green stuff start showing up, I knew that everything would be okay," Rev. John emphasizes.

Although the loss from the storm damage was unnerving, Rev. John never doubted that we would fix every aspect of the loss, "Like it never even happened." The speedy service amazed him, however. "You can have SERVPRO pretty much immediately," He concludes. 

SERVPRO of Northern Colorado Springs / Tri-Lakes can help you regain control fast after water loss incidents. Call us any time at (719) 434-4626.